hullo. sorry its taken so long to up date this, to make up for the gap i'll be up loading the next chapter tomorrow, yey!

i dont own merlin, if i did gwen would be sucha badass. arthur would understand more, and there would be more knights of the round table. speaking of which, yes there is a sirtristain in the legands no this is not him, it is my own version of him. later on there will be more knights of the round table turning up. they obviously are not oc's but the will be OS (original spin) ok? good. in other news, i suck at old english and wouldn't want to insult your inteligence so spells = bold italics. only those with magic in the story can understand it. hope you enjoy.

Gwen, gryfins and revelations.

Gwen stood just out of view. She had seen the newcomer barge past the guards. Had seen him knock them all out, bring them down without even unsheathing his sword. He hadn't even bothered to look at half of them. She would have been impressed but hedge knights were known for their skill. After all if you have trained and fought with knights from several kingdoms then you know how they fight. No. this one was good. Too good. She heard him mention magic. Not a wise thing to do. She saw Uthur sit up straight ensure what to do. No one as far as Gwenn could remember had ever had the nerve to stand in front of the king and admit to having a sorceress mother.

Why was Arthur looking at Merlin like that? At his, his hand. She had seen it before Merlin sometimes held his hand as if he had an invisible ball held in it, she never told him but she'd always had the ridiculous notion that Merlin was a sorcerer.

She heard the young servant yelp and say Morganna's name she moved to hear better,

And wished she hadn't her lady, her friend had finally abandoned her and Camelot. It was too much Gwenn started to walk fast away.

"Gwenn. Gwen. Gwenn. I'm just going to follow you, repeating your name, until you stop you know." Merlin was getting bored of this he needed to make sure she was ok and she was making that difficult. He muttered a weak spell under his breath "momentary pause." Gwenn stopped walking. "Why did I stop walking?" Gwen turned to look at Merlin. "You decided you wanted some company?" Merlin tried to hide his guilt on having used magic. It didn't work "you just used magic on me didn't you. What did you do?"

Merlin stopped walking they were now at the end of the corridor. He decided to tell the truth. "there is a spell that can see into the truth of things. had you not wanted company you would have continued walking. I'm sorry. It was bad. I shouldn't" she slapped him hard across the face. Glared at him then realised something. As much as she thought she wanted to be alone she really did want a friend around. "so you do magic?"

Merlin rubbed his cheek and nodded not daring to look her in the eye so looking at his feet. "Gwenn shrugged it off. "Well I've been making the knights swords since I was." She collapsed then into Merlin's arms fighting the tears in her eyes "she was so sweet and gentle and good natured why! Why is she trying to kill the king?"

Merlin looked out at the court yard "my mother has always been scared of my power. But she kept me safe loved me. When I got in trouble I was sent to Camelot to work for Gaius. I have had people care for me look after me. Tell me what I do isn't wrong as long as I help people." He pulled Gwenn back so he could look her in the eye "Morganna has grown up with servants and a father who hates magic. She never had anyone tell her she wasn't bad. She blames the king for what she has become. And we must try and show her there's another way." Gwenn was under control again. "there is a battle coming. Arthur seams to think you need protecting. I know for certain that you are a better swordsperson than me, than most. But Arthur would feel better knowing you were safe."

They heard movement behind them so turned. Arthur had been striding up to them but stopped when he saw Gwenn he could tell something was wrong. "Merlin. What did you do?" he asked pointing at his servant. Merlin laughed uncomfortably.

"I uh told Gwenn a joke. It had her in hysterics. I'll tell it to you some time" he broke out that goofy grin and Arthur pushed him to one side. "Gwenevire are you ok?"

Merlin decided not to make the situation worse so he stepped back discreetly.

Gwen smiled "yes. I am now. Merlin told a joke. I was crying at how astoundingly unfunny it was. Don't let him tell you it. It would be a waste of your time" she said the last bit load enough for Merlin to hear and saw his one visible shoulder bob up and down as he tried not to laugh.

Arthur looked at her once more and then whispered something in her ear.

He then turned to Merlin "walk with me." Merlin did as he was told. Now didn't seam the time to antagonise Arthur. They stopped walking and turned into a quiet room.

"your going to hit me round the head for talking back to the king aren't you" Merlin said as he backed away from Arthur. To his surprise Arthur hand did not sweep round in a slap to Merlin's head but rested on the wall next to his head. Merlin gulped. The prince was going to head butt him. Then Arthur looked him in the eye.

"Contrary to popular belief I am not all brawn and no brain. And by popular, I mean your opinion." Merlin forced himself to look his master in the eye. He saw something he hadn't seen before, sadness. "Sire." Arthur didn't give Merlin a chance to finish his sentence. "Merlin I know you are a warlock, a sorcerer. Now it used to be this knowledge would have you hanging. So why haven't you hung? Because at first I was surprised. Then curious. I've been watching you and you know what?" Merlin tried to speak but he had gone even paler than usual.

"I've noticed the only time you have ever tried to sneak magic past me is when my head was about to be lopped off and you sent the axe flying or Gwenn was about to be crushed by rubble and it. It paused. In mid air the rubble paused until she was safe." Merlin was still trying to find his voice. "You saved my father from wedded bliss with a troll." Merlin tried to speak but just managed a rather pathetic squeak. "Then it occurred to me. You didn't fall for the sleeping spell. When you saved my life right when we first met. You were the first to notice what was happening. You didn't fall asleep but that knife." Merlin finally managed words "was too fast" Arthur ignored Merlin's statement. "was too fast even for the quickest runners and you are no way near anything approaching a fast runner. What did you do? I know you used magic."

"I briefly slowed time down and sped it up again" it was Arthur's time to go white. This was the first time Merlin had been straight with him about his magic. "and when we rode out to face the dragon and I joked about the amount of time I've saved your royal behind." Arthur, being Arthur. Regain his composure quicker than Merlin had. "you weren't joking were you." They looked at each other.

Merlin started an apology and Arthur waved it aside. There was an awkward silence. Merlin started looking at his feet and went to leave the room Arthur called to him from the other side of the room "Merlin. If we survive this. I'm making you my adviser. I need an adviser I can trust someone who won't be scared of telling me what they believe my path should be. If you are my advisor. When, when you are my official advisor you will no longer be a servant. You will be my equal." Merlin smiled.

"Your equal? Sire, we both know I'm better than you." As he left the room he felt a tug on his arm and he was sung round into a hug. And heard Arthur mutter "we are equals my friend. Equals." And with that Arthur barged past him out the door where he walked over to Gwenn. Merlin was about to walk off in the other direction when he saw something.

"Griffins! Griffins! Two! Coming in fast!" Merlin yelled loud enough for the whole castle to hear. Arthur pushed Gwenn into a room gave her a nod and ran out to meet the griffins. "Merlin. Juice me up." Merlin raised an eyebrow. "do your thing before anyone else arrives. I know griffins are killed by magic." Merlin nodded and started muttering to himself trying to remember the correct spell. He snatched Arthur's sword from the princes hand muttered something and threw it back to the prince as the first griffin swooped low. "Arthur jumped up and thrust the sword upwards. One of the wings was lopped off and the beast slammed into a wall. Merlin was about to point out that the spell was only good for one shot when something swished out of one of the third floor windows.

Tristain soared outwards in thin air. Unsheathing his sword as he landed on the still airborne creature. His sword plunged into the animal's neck killing it swiftly. As it began to spiral downwards its companion jumped up to attack Tristain. But at the last moment Tristain shifted his sword around in his hand and flipped over. The momentum caused the sword to slice all the way down the injured griffin. He landed in a roll and came up standing. His sword had blood on it. Then it glowed red for a couple of seconds and was clean. Arthur thinking his sword was still ablaze with blue fire started to hide it behind his back but Merlin pushed it back to the prince's side. Reassuring him that it was a normal sword again. Arthur jokingly said. "You want to swap?" Tristain looked at him. "Not especially. You couldn't handle it sire. It is my burden." He went to walk off. But Merlin spoke up. "Where did the blood go? What curse is on the sword?"

Tristain looked up as if seeing the young man for the first time. "You have abnormally huge ears." Merlin just stared at him refusing to take the bate. Tristain realised that he wasn't getting out if it that easily. "When a creature or being of magic is killed by the sword. The holder feels its death. A pain brief excruciating pain. For me. As I am of magic and related to its original owner it merely feels like getting punched in the gut by a rock. But if someone such as the prince were to use it. It would feel like a frozen knife slicing the heart in two. Ever time you used it." Merlin shrugged. "Seams an odd curse to place on your own sword. Unless you never intended for magical blood to be spilt by it. This would mean you were expecting to spill other kinds of" Tristain cut him off "if a non magic entity is killed with it I gain all of their strength. Why do you think I never unsheathe it apart from for magical beings?" Merlin shuddered. Arthur had wondered off to make sure Gwenn was ok. She was currently looking at he two dead griffins with a look of horror.

"Merlin. Escort Tristain back to his chambers. Gwenn is in shock I'm taking her to Gaius." Arthur placed a hand on Gwenn's shoulder and walked off making sure she was ok. Merlin watched them leave almost forgetting Tristain was there. "He cares for her." It was a statement not a question. Merlin didn't feel like answering. So he changed the subject. "Your room M'lord." He motioned for Tristain to follow him. Tristain fell into step just behind him. Merlin could tell Tristain was waiting for a response on his statement. Merlin couldn't take it any more. "Gwenn was very close to Morganna though she was her maid Morganna saw her as both a friend and a sister figure." He turned to look at Tristain. "Arthur sees it as his duty to make sure Gwenn is safe. She is his last link to his, um well to his" Tristain cut across Merlin before he could finish.

"She is no longer his sister. She has joined her true family. She has abandoned Camelot. She is a witch and she will kill you all." Merlin knew he should let it go. But he couldn't. "she will try. I am ready to protect my prince. And my king. Are you?" he expected Tristain to explode. Hedge knights weren't known for their patience. He did not expect what did happen. "there's something interesting about you Merlin. You are a servant. Not outwardly intelligent. But you know things don't you. You can see the truth of things. my sister came to Camelot a few of years ago. She was cursed and still"

Merlin froze. Surly it couldn't be? "she was so young. She survived ok until the slavers got her. I tried to free her but I was called to duty, I failed her. But someone here" Merlin could feel a lump in his throat, Tristain continued walking not noticing "some one here helped her hid her protected her" "stop it" "fed her. I think they may even have loved her." "stop it" Merlin repeated, he knew exactly who Tristain was talking about. Tristain did not stop but he was now looking at Merlin. Determined. "they only knew her a few days but they loved her, even knowing what she was." Merlin couldn't take it any more "I tried to save her but. It was to late. I was too late. I tried" he started to cry and Tristain moved closer. "no. you don't understand" I she died in my arms I. I made sure she saw the lake before she died. I only wish she had survived." Tristain was shaking his head.

"no. you didn't fail her. You saved her." Merlin tried to say something. Tristain went on before he could. " the curse my sister was under. Every night she turned into that beast and the only way she could be freed was is someone loved both of her forms. Cared for it." Seeing the look in Merlin's face he stepped forward so they were right in each others faces "you saved her by returning her to the lake. Her cursed body is dead yes, but she was returned to the water" Merlin stepped back hitting his head on the wall. He looked confused so Tristain continued. "my mother was a witch who drew power from the air. Much like you. But my sister drew her power from the water. When you returned her to water to the lake you saved her. She lives on. She is bound to the lake she can never move beyond its shores but she survives." Merlin gulped. For the past year he had been hearing a voice in his head, just he had heard the great dragons. Now he realised who it was. "she is alive" Tristain nodded. "she lives in a lake" Tristain nodded" she knows things now doesn't she." Tristain nodded. Smiled, then started walking again. Merlin fell into step behind him. This changed things. there was someone on his side. Someone powerful on his side. Then they reached tristain's room. He turned round to Merlin as he walked in. "if she has been asking to see you, you should go young warlock." And with that he closed the door. Merlin was left alone in the hall. Things were going from bad to weird. Tomorrow he would go to the lake.